Roses on Stage

One

The silence is pierced by the sound of Kings Valdheer's leg bouncing up and down anxiously, awaiting a phone call from the casting director. Her phone is face up, taunting her with each notification, tricking her. With every vibration echoing over the table, her heart leapt into her throat. In the past five hours she had been sitting at her kitchen table, she had received two scam calls, thirteen texts, and one call from the bank, reminding her to pay her bills. She tapped the screen, checking the time for what millionth time: 16:56. If she did not get a call by five o'clock, she'd burst into heavy tears. Seconds seemed like minutes, minutes seemed like hours, time wasn't exactly her friend. Thoughts were flooding her mind, drowning her as she came up with every possible scenario where she wouldn't get a call. Maybe she wasn't good enough and didn't deserve a callback, maybe her contact information got lost, maybe she gave the wrong contact information, maybe there was someone on the inside who tore up anyone's audition if they felt threatened, maybe the casting directors all died due to poison in their coffee, maybe they were arrested or kidnapped. Kings couldn't get a break from her thoughts, they were spiralling out of control. She checked the time again: 16:57.

"Are you kidding me?" She sighed loudly, with her hand running over her face. All of this was extremely daunting. Now she wasn't only anxious, but she was also extremely frustrated, not with anybody but herself. All the objects and furniture blurred together, the only one that was clear was her phone, face up, right in front of her. Was it too late to move countries and change names? Go into hiding? Yes. Kings wanted this job. She needed it like a little girl needed a stuffed animal. Theatre made her happy. Of course it was stressful, of course it was tiring, of course there were days she messed up so bad that she wondered why she was even in the show business. But it made her happy. Each show made her happy. It was just things like this which had her second guessing. Her phone lit up again, this time it was a notification from Candy Crush Saga. The entire day had been alarming, it sent all her senses to a thousand, making her extra aware of everything and anything that went on around her. The time had barely changed: 16:58. "Just two more minutes," Kings whispered to herself, clasping her hands together as if she would say a prayer right then and there. Her throat dried up like the Sahara Desert as the time changed again, leaving only a minute for her phone to burst to life with an incoming call. Every clock, every watch, every device which told time in Kings' apartment changed, it was five o'clock. After a few seconds without any movement, without any breaths, Kings slumped in her chair, disheartened. She wasn't going to get any sort of callback– Wrong: her phone burst to life, vibrating on the table like a cartoon telephone. Her hands fumbled, shaking violently as she tried to pick up the call, breathing unsteadily.

"Hello," the person on the line greeted with extreme professionalism. "Is this Kings Valdheer?"

"Yes," she swallowed timidly, "yes, it is." Her hands produced enough sweat to flood her whole apartment.

"This is Ivan Branch, one of the casting directors for our new musical; 'Gumball Machine'. I am pleased to tell you that you are one of our auditionees that have been accepted if you were interested in the job." The smile on Kings' face was brighter than the stars in the sky, brighter than the sun itself, brighter than the smile of a kid on Christmas morning. "The role that you will be taking is part of the ensemble, please let us know your decision about this in five days, before Wednesday, January the twenty-fourth."

"I will," she agreed, trying to match the man's civility. "How will I reach you?"

"A phone call or email would be great," he replied, "I'll be awaiting your decision. Thank you so much and have a good rest of your day." The line died and Kings sighed in relief, lying down on the floor, in the middle of her small dining room, ignoring the chair which was less than a meter away from her. A wave of satisfaction washed over her and a sense of pride as well. Being part of the ensemble was not much, but it never meant it wasn't fun or that she learned less, the ensemble was just as important as the main character. She had done a lot of ensemble work, in programs, in school, on and off Broadway, of course being the star of the show was everyone's dream, but being in the background wasn't as bad as a lot of people expected it to be, and Kings was used to it. The last time she was cast as the main character was in her third year in high school, and that was for the musical The Addams Family, when she took on the role of Morticia Addams.

Kings was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she even forgot she was just lying on the ground like a dog who went on too long of a walk. Sitting up, she already knew that she wanted the role, but accepting it only minutes after receiving the news would seem strange, especially if she didn't just agree over the first phone call. Maybe just to genuinely think through the decision, she'd wait for tomorrow or the day after the call or email back.

ꕤ ꕤ ꕤ

IM SO FUCKING TIRED

ahem
anyways
this is a short story so it's going to be really short and the chapters are also short and vary in word count a lot

this is all my imagination and an original idea
(note: there isn't a musical on broadway called "gumball machine"... yet tee hee)

anyways
i hope you enjoy
i spent a lot of time on this (all-nighters YAY)

how are you?
---->

MWAH
kissses and croissants 💋🥐